Hundreds of protesters gather across New York State for FrackAction!

See event photos here!

Warning that New York State needs to be much more skeptical about oil and gas industry technological claims in light of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, a coalition of concerned New Yorkers on Tuesday called for a statewide moratorium on a controversial natural gas extraction method called hydro-fracking.

Farmers, local business owners, students, scientists, doctors, realtors, elected officials, clergy and children spoke at press conferences held simultaneously at six state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regional offices on Tuesday noon to raise awareness about the dangers of hydro-fracking. The events spanned all areas of New York state that would be impacted by hydro-fracking, including all of Marcellus shale region of New York State, and New York City, which gets its drinking water from an aquifer in the the Catskills.

In New York City, New Paltz, Avon, Schenectady, Syracuse, and Buffalo, citizens expressed support for a bill currently before the New York State Legislature. The Englebright-Addabbo bill (A.10490/S.7592) calls for a moratorium on all permits for hydro-fracking until the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes an extensive study into hazards and accidents around the country that are linked to hydro-fracking.

“The oil and natural gas industry giants keep telling us that the technology they’d use to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale deposits in New York State is safe and sound. That’s the same thing they said about off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Julia Walsh, Project Director of the Frack Action campaign. “We’re here today because the DEC is poised to start handing out permits at the end of the year for companies to begin this risky new procedure in rural counties located all over New York State. We’re asking for more time to study the effects of fracking on our drinking water, on public health, and the environment.”

Julie Sautner pours Dimock water to deliver to the DECWalsh noted that the New York City watershed could still be adversely affected by fracking. "The DEC has led us to believe that fracking will have no impact on New York City, when that is not the case. Once the drilling starts everything is up for grabs."

In Syracuse Mary Jane Uttech, Deputy Public Health Director for the Cortland Country Health Department, spoke on the inadequacy of the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement to assess the risk to public health. "My position and the position of the health deptartment that I represent is that the DSGEIS does not provide adequate protection for the air and water in New York, and that the DEC's plan for how they're going to regulate gas drilling is inadequate to protect our water," she said. Uttech called for further study of the issue. "There is really an appalling lack of studies on the the impact of gas drilling."

Pennsylvania residents also spoke about their experiences with hydraulic fracturing on their environment and health. "We were misled. They promised us jobs and money for the community, but instead we got poisoned water," said Craig Sautner of Dimock, PA, who now relies on bottled water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Sautner urged New York lawmakers not to move forward without understanding the risks. "Step back and take a hard look at fracking from all angles , at what devastation could take place, because once it's done it's done."